What's in a Name?
by Bailieboro
Summary: Merlin is entertained by Arthur's memories of his time spent in Quebec, Canada's La Belle Province.


**ONLY IN LA BELLE PROVINCE**

In the nineties, Arthur after three years in Paris was transferred to Montréal. He settled in quickly and enjoyed the culture of the bilingual city.

Through work, he met a group of friends which included a young man named Jean-Claude. Within three months, they became fast friends. Arthur loved skiing and he settled in easily with Jean-Claude's immediate friends.

Jean-Claude's family welcomed the 'anglais' with open arms. Arthur was spoiled rotten by his mother Madame Plouffe who insisted that as she had five boys, "What was one more?"

The men's friendship progressed. One night after the hockey game a group of them wandered back to Arthur's apartment. His closest friends already considered Jean-Claude and Arthur a couple in the making. Finally only Arthur and Jean-Claude were left. One thing led to another and Jean-Claude stayed over. Within six months, Arthur found new digs and Jean-Claude moved in.

Arthur was happy; his partner was amusing, very intelligent and certainly not lacking in talent in the bedroom. His English to Arthur's ears was adorable. Like many people who speak another language, when excited he reverted to 'zuh' for 'the' and often used gender generated adjectives. Arthur would smile saying that this was what kept them together. Jean-Claude would grin and remind Arthur that he was sure other things might be responsible and would offer to remind him if he had forgotten.

The 'gai milieu' was active in Montrèal and to Arthur's and his friends' amusement, a new gay bar opened in town, its name causing much surprise.

To protect its French language and identity, the Québec provincial Government had ordained that French would be the language of the workplace. Citizens were to be first greeted in that language and only then would they be able to revert to the language of choice of their clients; all business was to be conducted primarily in French. In Québec, being unilingual as long as it was French was not considered a drawback. According to the provincial law, all non-French speaking immigrants were to be enrolled in French schools. English speaking students who attended the separate English Language School Boards had compulsory French through high school which entailed a pass in the subject to graduate.

The city had to reflect its French culture; therefore all signs were predominantly French with any translation allowed no bigger than one third the size of the French lettering. Businesses existing prior to the ruling were permitted to keep their original name but use of possessive apostrophes was forbidden. All convenience stores or mini marts became dépanneurs.

Touring around to find businesses which broke the rules, the Office Québécois de La Language Française staff earned themselves the name 'language police' or even 'tongue troopers' from non-French speaking residents.

So, Arthur tried to figure how the pub's name had been permitted. The owners had gone to great lengths to disguise non-French words. Jean-Claude accepted it without any real surprise however Arthur and his English speaking friends got their money's worth of enjoyment from it.

It was therefore surprising to see a bar blatantly called Le Thrustt et Tugg. Arthur's friends were delighted that its name had evaded the Tongue Police.

The group decided to meet there for drinks the following Friday. The friends continued to laugh about its name. One of the chaps in his office decided that the owners had probably explained that the title referred to aeronautical and marine terms. Another insisted, "It has been accepted as it was possibly the names of its co-owners." What were those chances? …impossible and he was laughingly teased for that lame explanation.

But for Arthur, Jean-Claude's take on the name was his favourite. With his accent and his difficulty with diphthongs, he had excitedly referred to the pub as Zuh Trustt et Tugg. Arthur decided that all things considered, Jean-Claude was probably closer to the truth. Trust was a major part in any relationship.

The guys did meet there a couple of times but the clientele were too in your face for their liking. The bar failed within its first year. However, its name still elicited smiles from the group especially when in mixed company they referred to it affectionately as The Trusted Tug.

Once his contract was up, Arthur returned to England alone. Although Jean-Claude and he had amicably parted company, he would always have fond memories of his time in Montrèal.

-0-0-

It was great being home, London was a good city. However, on a business trip, he'd been impressed with the Cardiff office and their calibre of work. He had been welcomed by his confreres and whenever possible joined them for a drink after work.

Ten days later, he'd returned to London but the image a young dark-haired bilingual University Professor continually flitted across his mind. He knew little about him except that he was the brother of Leon, one of the men with whom he was working. He'd joined them on a few occasions and had teased Arthur by only conversing with him in Welsh.

Arthur was smitten; at a complete loss as to what was being said to him but enjoying the suspicion of flirting and the knowing glances from the rest of the group. Once his time was up, he returned to London but not before inviting Leon to get in contact with him if he ever planned to be in town.

Within the year Arthur was offered a new position, a raise, more responsibilities and the opportunity to run the Cardiff office. After serious consideration, Arthur accepted and his subsequent move to Cardiff allowed him to once again make contact with the young professor.

The young man still enjoyed teasing Arthur about his lack of Welsh. He'd say, "Great! You're bilingual but as an Englishman, don't you think that as a member of the United Kingdom you should have been encouraged to study Welsh as your second language?"

Arthur had tried to explain that Welsh had not been offered as a second language option in his school. French seemed a good option as his family had a chalet outside Verbier and he had a passion for skiing. Arthur had laughingly acknowledged that he was at a disadvantage language wise but said that he hoped that it would not be held against him.

Merlin had smiled acknowledging the double entendre saying with a slight blush that Arthur should learn Welsh now that he was in Cardiff.

Leon was happy to see that his boss seemed interested in his brother and that Merlin seemed to return the interest. He started to refer to Arthur as 'eich cariad'! Merlin laughed denying it but blushing nonetheless. "You could do worse," said Leon, "He's a lovely person and I approve!" For that Leon got a none too gentle poke in the ribs..

Slowly their friendship grew, Arthur's favourite time was when Merlin would whisper to him in Welsh and he often picked up the words 'fy cariad'. Asking what it meant had resulted in Merlin blushing slightly and saying, "…friend." Arthur had checked up on the word and learned that it meant slightly more than friend and felt thrilled.

One winter evening, Arthur and his group of friends were talking about pubs and laughing at the originality of some owners when choosing names. Arthur had a flash of Montreal and Jean-Claude's 'Zuh Trustt et Tugg.'

When they were alone, he told a wide-eyed Merlin about it.

"But how did they get away with it?" he asked. "I don't believe you…you're kidding."

Merlin continued to refuse to believe him and Arthur had to spend the next half hour explaining the intricacies and significance of the Quèbec political scene and Bill 101. Finally he accepted it, deciding as a joke to teach Arthur to say the name in Welsh.

It was hopeless with Arthur massacring it and insisting that learning a language should be a hands-on experience. Suffice it to say years later, Arthur just had to mention the pub and Merlin would take the initiative to both their satisfaction.

One night as they lay in bed Merlin said, "You know your friend Jean-Claude really got it right, didn't he? Trust does play an important part in a relationship. I knew when I met you that first time; if you could be trusted I would be interested in you."

"Wish you had let me know. I was interested in you, I even mentioned to Leon that he should contact me when I returned to London but he never did and I figured you had not been interested and we had been just 'two ships which had passed in the night'. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because, you never said anything. I thought you liked me but then you went back to London. You lived so far away and I didn't want to look like a pathetic fool."

Arthur smiled, "I would lie awake thinking of you and even considered enrolling in a Welsh language class at the local college but my workload increased and finally you became a warm memory which made me smile."

"Well, at least those first meetings weren't a complete loss," Merlin remarked grinning as he added, "Did you smile often?"

Arthur wrapping his arms around him, "I did…I still do and for you…I always will…"

Whenever the conversation turned to restaurants, Merlin with a challenging smirk at Arthur would casually make reference to the reputable Trusted Tug. The first time he'd done it, Arthur had choked on his drink. None of their Cardiff friends ever knew the significance of the words but when a couple of years later, Arthur and Merlin spent their holidays in Québec. They met up with Jean-Claude's family and Arthur's former friends.

They had supper at Le Merle, the chic French restaurant which now operated at the same location. Merlin grinned happily as Arthur openly toasted the sadly all too swift demise of the renowned Thrustt et Tugg!

 **THE END**


End file.
